Writing my Frasier Island series was a labor of love. My father served in the US Navy during World War II, and researching these books put me in touch with several people knowledgeable about the Navy. The whole experience gave me a much deeper appreciation of our military and of my father’s generation, who sacrificed so much.
My father didn’t talk much about his naval service. He trained in ROTC in college, went off for more training, and then joined his ship. He visited the Philippines and China, and I believe that in 1945 his ship was transporting soldiers or prisoners. We have a few photos, but unfortunately, like many families, we did not ask for details while Dad was still around to tell them.
Looking back, I feel rather presumptuous to have written about the Navy, not having military experience myself, but the series was on my heart at the time. These books originated in an odd way. My oldest son, Jim, challenged me to write a science fiction book. Knowing he had started several projects but not finished them, I said I would if he would. We both began . . . and I finished. He never did complete his book. The thing is, mine ended up not being science fiction.
Writing with my son is an adventure in itself. -@SusanPageDavis Share on XWell, there is one thing in the first book, Frasier Island, that has a smidgen of sci-fi to it, but it’s very small. My publisher worked with me to produce two more books in the series, Finding Marie and Inside Story.
Well, my son may have given up on his science fiction book, but he did later write a full-length historical novel with me, The Seafaring Women of the Vera B. We just finished the second book of that series (Hearts of Oak Series) this week, and we hope it will be available soon. We still have a bit of editing to do, but the title is The Scottish Lass.
When family is involved, the work and cooperation brings us closer. -@SusanPageDavis Share on XWriting with my son is an adventure in itself. I’ve co-authored books with other people, and each experience is different. When family is involved, the work and cooperation brings us closer. We’ve each gained insight into how the other thinks. I’m thankful to have family about me. As I work, the clan is sometimes inspiration, as was my father, sometimes a co-laborer, as with my son. But always they are supportive and helpful, even if it’s simply by indulging us in the time to create.
Each volume in the Frasier Island series presents a tale of romantic suspense where some of the main characters are naval officers. The first begins on a fictional island in the Pacific, where a small garrison protects a secret. The second follows Navy wife Marie across the country after she witnesses a murder and becomes a target of the killer. The third volume follows reporter Claudia as she tracks down some exciting stories, including her visit to the Philippines to profile a Navy group that doesn’t want her along on their secret mission.
All three books are on sale this month, through the end of March. The paperbacks are reduced drastically in price on my website’s bookstore: https://bookstore.susanpagedavis.com/
The e-books are available on Kindle. Book 1 is only 99 cents and Books 2 and 3 are 2.99 each. All are free as e-books on Kindle Unlimited.
With the Vera B’s captain dead in Melbourne, Australia, Alice Packard thinks the worst has happened, until she learns the crew has deserted her husband’s ship in favor of the goldfields. Only one old man, Gypsy Deak, sticks by her, but Gypsy alone can’t raise a crew from the depleted population. In desperation, Alice turns to the only source of plentiful workers: the women of Melbourne. In a bold move, she and Gypsy empty a brothel, promising the escaped women a new life. Her all-woman (save one) crew put their backs and hearts into the voyage, but Alice finds training her sailors much harder than she expected. Her faith is tested to the limit. With a cargo to sell, angry brothel and tavern owners in pursuit, pirates to evade, and a mysterious stowaway, will the seafaring women of the Vera B. survive to tell the tale of this daring adventure?
